Machine



(No M0de1.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. METZG-ER.

IRONING MACHINE. No. 553,038. Patented Jan. 14, 1896 ANDP-DN BGNAMAM.PHOTOLITHQWASHINGTDN, D C.

(No Model.) I 3 SheetsSheet 3.

A. METZ GER. momma MACHINE.

No. 553,038. Patented Jan. 14, 1896. A

INVENTOH ATTONEYS,

Au DREW BJZPANAM. MOTU-muwAsNiNElmL D r.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

AUGUST METZGER, OF IIOMBURG, GERMANY.

lRONlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,038, dated January14, 1896.

Application filed July 14, 1894. Serial No. 517,513. (No model.)Patented in England June 5, 1894., No. 10,878; in Belgium June 15, 1894,No. 110,256; in Hungary June 24,1894,1 To. 665 in Austria September 3,1894, No.-44/4,581; in France October 8, 1894, No. 238,904; in GermanyDecember 19, 1894,1i0. 79,657, and in Canada May 13, 1895,1io. 48,936.

subject of the King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany, residing at Homburg-vor-der-Iliihe, Germ any, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ironingdlachines, (for which I have obtained LettersPatent in Germany, No. 79,657, dated December 19, 189i; in Austria, N0.eat/1 ,581, dated September 3, 1894:; in Hungary, Jo. 665, dated June24:, 1894:; in England, No. 10,878, dated June 5, 180i; in France, No.238,904, dated October 8, 189i; in Belgium, No. 110,256, dated June 15,18941, and in Canada, No. 48,936, dated May 13, 1895,) of which thefollowing is a specification. r

This invention relates to that class of ironing-machines in which thepolished ironingplate is heated and over which the articles to be ironedare passed under the action of press UITG-lOllGIS; and the object of theinvention is to provide a simple and practical construction having greatworking capacity.

My invention consists'of certain features of construction andcombinations of parts, to be fully described hereinafter and finallypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of myimproved ironing-machine. Fig. 2 isa side elevation of the same, partlyin section, on line a: m of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the centralpart of the machine, the feeding and collecting tables being broken awayand the endless band omitted. Fig. & is a section on line 4: i of Fig.3, showing the bearing 'plate, rollers, and endless band in loweredposition; and Fig. 5 is a similar section showing the same parts inraised position. 7

Similar letters of reference indicate corres ponding parts.

On a suitable frame A a suitable device A is suspended and which maybeeither a charcoal, coke or gas heater. The heating device is arranged insuch a manner that the heating-gases in order to escape into thechimneyfiue (not shown) must pass through the chamher it of a hollowcasting B, which forms a heating-box provided with a polished top orironingplate l3, and through the tubular exit-flue R located at one sideof said box in the direction of the arrow 19, as shown in Fig. 1. Inthis manner the greatest part of the heat generated is absorbed by thepolished ironing-plate B, which serves as the ironingsurface of themachine, whereby the polish is imparted to the article being ironed. Anendless band D, of felt or other similar flexible material, moves overand in uniform contact with this ironing-plate B, and is driven by meansof a pair of rollers C C, which are j ournaled in the ends of oppositebearingplates P P, and are rotated by means of a gear-wheel G mounted onthe shaft Z of the roller 0, and by a gear-wheel G which intermesheswith said gear-Wheel G, said gear- Wheel G being mounted on a shaft 9which is journaled in opposite sides of the frame of the machine andwhich may be turned by means of a hand-crank G. The side bearingplatesof the said mechanism are supported at one end by means of a pair ofarms H, which at their lower ends are pivoted on the shaft g, and whichat their upper ends receive the ends of the shaft Z of the roller C, andat the other end by a pair of arms H, which arms H at their upper endsreceive the ends of the shaft Z of the roller C, said arms H beingfulcrumed intermediately of their ends-that is to'say, at or about then1idlength thereof on a transverse shaft g. The shaft Z which carriesthe roller C is provided at one end with a sprocketwheel F, over whichruns a sprocket-chain F, which also runs over a sprocket-Wheel Farranged at the corresponding end of the shaft Z, which carries theother roller 0. Said rollers G C may be adjusted to and from each other,so that the endless band D may be held at the proper degree of tensionby means of suitable shifting devices, consisting of screw-threadedshanks S operated by turn-nuts S, which are arranged between the forksof forked brackets S said shanks being connected with the bearings 0fthe shafts Z Z of rollers C C, and said shafts passing throughlongitudinal slots S of the plates P. As shown, shaft Z is provided atone end only with a shifting device.

For the purpose of ironing articles of different thicknesses it isnecessary that the rollers should press upon the same with a cer-- tainamount of resiliency, so that they will not press upon the articles toostiffiy and in too unyielding a manner. At the same time it is necessarythat the rollers should be capable of being brought into close proximityto or of being separated from the ironing-plate B". Both of thesepurposes are attained in the simplest and at the same time in the mostpractical manner by means of the mechanism comprising oscillating arms HH, which hold the rollers in position. The extended lower ends it of thearms H are connected by means of chains J or other suitable connectionsto the arms K on the rock-shaft K, draw-bars M, and treadle L pivoted atL to the lower end of the frame of the machine in such a manner that thearms II and with them the arms H can be rocked on their shafts g g. Theendless band D can be, by means of these devices, moved to or from theironing-plate B; but this movement is accomplished by the. arms H H insuch a manner that the said band and the rollers are carried and thesame are always maintained in parallel position with respect to saidironing-plate when the parts are in the relative position shown in thedrawings.

After themachine has been used for some time the endless band D mayrequire stretching to take up the slack. This is accomplished by the'shiftin g devices S, by which the shaft Z is moved the requireddistance away from the shaft Z, but this destroys the parallelismbetween the arms H H and also between the endless-band and theironing-plate B. It is only necessary in this connection that, when theendless band is in contact with the ironing-plate, this contact beuniform throughout the bearing-surface of the endless band, as before.This is permitted by constructing the arms H each of two sectionsrespectively h and 77., both of which sections are provided withlongitudinal flan ges 71 71?, through which pass the headedconnecting-bolts h that are retained in place by the nuts 71 and one ofsaid sections having longitudinal slots for the passage of the bolts, sothat said section 71. may be slightly lowered by first loosening thenuts-of the bolts, and then tightening the same after the desiredadjustment is obtained. While this adjustment enables the endless bandto form parallel contact with the ironing plate, it will be understoodthat when it is raised off of the plate the parallelism will not exist;but this parallelism is not necessary excepting when the endless band isin contact with the ironing-plate. Mounted in the said bearing-plates PP, between the end rollers C O, which carry the endless band D, are anumber of pressure-rollers G which are of the same diameter as are therollers O C. These rollers 0 in connection with the end rollers, O 0,press the endless band against the ironing plate l3. lVhen placing theserollers C in position, care must be taken to arrange them at suitableintervals apart, as

shown in Fig. 2, so that the steam caused by the heat of theironing-plate B upon the dam p articles and which passes through theendless felt band should not be retained by said roll.- ers, but beallowed to escape freely into the surrounding atmosphere.

In order to prevent the ironing-plate B be coming overheated, thechamber 75 which is provided within the heating-box B should have at asuitable distance from the ironingplate B a parallel horizontalpartition or baffie-plate WV, as shown clearly in Fig. 4: and in dottedlines in Fig. 1, which is located mid way between the top and bottom ofthe heating-box, so as to divide it into an upper and lower portion. Thehot gases strike against the partition-plate W and are caused to passfrom the lower portion of the chamber is through the exit-pipe R anddirectly into the chimney-flue, while by reason of the fact-that thepartition-plate ends short of the side wall of the heating-box, fromwhich the exit-pipe extends, some of the gases pass through the openingformed and into the upper portion of the chamber, so that theironing-plate is not subjected to the high degree of heat 01 the gasesin the lower part of. the chamber.

In front of the machine a feeding-table O is fitted tothe frame Athereof at approximately the same height as that of the ironing-plate B.and at the opposite side of the machine a dis charge and collectingtable 0 is also fitted. These tables are preferably of the same width asthat of the ironing-plate B.

The construction of the heating device A is of secondary importance solong as care is taken to conduct the hot gases in the manner abovestated.

The operationof the machine is exceedingly simple and is as follows: Theheating device A is fired, so that the heat arising from-the same willbe imparted in a sufficient degree to the ironing-plate B. The articlesto be ironed having been prepared upon the feeding-table O,the treadle Lis depressed andthe rollers and the endless band lifted from ofi theironingplate. The clothes or other articles are now pushed forward fromthe feeding-table until they are seized by the endless band. Thecrank-handle G is now turned in the direction of the arrow II, Fig. 2,and the endless band caused to travel in the direction of the arrowIlI,same figure. The pressure on the treadle L is'now released, and therollers and endless band are allowed to rest upon the article beingironed, so as to press the same uniformly against the heatedironing-plate l3,while said article is being drawn rearward by theendless band.in the direction of the arrow I until it reaches thecollecting-table 0.

Having thus described my invention, l claim as newand desire to' secureby Letters Patent 1. In an ironing-'inachine, the combination. with aframeprovided with'an ironing-plate, of oscillating-arms fulcrumed totheframe. bearing plates pivoted to said arms, a pair or endless band beingalways supported in parallel relation to the ironing-plate when the bandis pressed against the same, sprocket- Wheels on the ends of the outerr01lers,' a sprocket-chain passing over said wheels, gear- Wheels andmeans for rotating said rollers through said gear-Wheels, substantiallyas set forth.

Frankfortonthe-Main, the 20th day of J une, 189a.

AUGUST METZGER. YVitnesses:

ALVESTO S. HOGUE, J EAN GRUND.

